Azahar Mosque

{{Short description|Mosque in Vientiane, Laos}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Azahar Mosque

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| caption = The mosque in [YYYY]

| map_type = Laos

| map_size = 250px

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| map_caption = Location of the mosque in Laos

| coordinates = {{coord|17|58|52.2|N|102|36|02.1|E|type:landmark_region:LA|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_footnotes =

| religious_affiliation = Sunni Islam

| locale =

| location = Chanthabuly, Vientiane

| country = Laos

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| sect = Shafi'i school

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| organisational_status = Mosque

| functional_status = Active

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| leadership = {{nowrap|Musa Abu Bakr {{small|(Imam)}}}}

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| architecture_type = {{nowrap|Mosque architecture}}

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| founded_by = Shafi'i Laotian Chams

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| established = {{nowrap|1976 {{small|(as a congregation)}}}}

| groundbreaking = 1976

| year_completed = 1986

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| site_area = {{cvt|700|m2}}

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The Azahar Mosque, also called the Cambodia Mosque, Masjid Cambodia, or the Cham Mosque, is a Sunni Islamic mosque that worships in the Shafi'i school tradition, located in an obscure part of the Chanthabuly district of Vientiane, Laos.

History

The construction of the mosque started in 1976 and was completed in 1986. It was founded by the Shafi'i adherents of the Laotian Chams who fled Democratic Kampuchea in the 1970s.{{cite web|last=Forbes|first=Andrew|date=1997|url=https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199703/the.crescent.in.laos.htm|title=The Crescent in Laos|website=Aramco World|access-date=27 August 2021}}{{cite web|last=Sikand|first=Yogi|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/muslims-in-laos-hidden-beyond-the-mekong|title=Hidden Beyond the Mekong|website=Qantara.de|access-date=27 August 2021}} The Cham community is small, numbering only a few hundred, and is relatively poor. Many of the Chams were persecuted by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime from 1975, when their mosques were destroyed, they were forbidden to worship or to speak in the Cham language, and many were forced to keep pigs. They fled to Laos to avoid persecution.{{cite web |author=Forbes, Andrew |url=https://www.islamawareness.net/Asia/Laos/laos_article0001.html |title=The Crescent in Laos: Muslims of Vientiane |work=Islam Awareness |date=2001 |access-date=5 December 2024 }}

Architecture

The mosque consists of two main buildings, which are the prayer hall and the kuttab (education room). The mosque is painted gold in color for its dome and cream for its wall. The mosque sits in a complex with a total area of {{cvt|700|m2}}.{{cite news|last=Yulianto|first=Agus|date=23 November 2016|url=https://www.republika.co.id/berita/oh39pp396/masjid-azahar-laos-yang-sunyi-sepi-tapi-damai|title=Masjid Azahar Laos yang Sunyi Sepi, tapi Damai...|work=Khazanah|access-date=27 August 2021|language=id|trans-title=The Quite Azahar Mosque of Laos, but Peaceful...}}

See also

{{stack|{{portal|Islam|Laos}}}}

References